Finally, once they had put ten miles between them and the farm they had turned back for home…their new home, Victor putting his foot down on the accelerator, and leaving the by now large horde of ghouls far behind them in the rain.
They had reached the farmhouse by ten PM, parking the ambulance behind the van which was now blocking the track once more, and squeezed past it to discover their friends safely barricaded inside the building, and Doctor Green still alive, the physician having managed to crawl inside a cupboard where he had hidden while the ghouls had devoured Valerie and Robert just feet away.
They had sat as a group in the large living room for nearly an hour upon their return, talking quietly about those that they had lost, and their plans for the next day and the days following, and then wearily, they had headed for bedrooms.
Doctor Green had elected to stay downstairs with a shotgun, his prior aversion to them gone in the wake of what he had experienced, and while Lauren had found a room for her and Brandon to occupy, Victor and Bella had found a different bedroom for Emily and Eric, the pair sitting with the children until they had finally fallen to sleep, Lexie curled up on the foot of the girls bed.
Finally, they had made their way to another of the bedrooms, Victor about to leave Bella until she had taken his hand and asked him to stay.
And so, he had, the pair closing the door behind them, silently undressing each other before climbing into the double bed, their union passionate but silent, their eyes locked together.
They had awoken earlier the next day, once more repeating the night before then while Bella had gone to check on the children, Victor had headed down to the kitchen to make them a drink, shaking his head as Lauren and Alice had turned to smile knowingly at him from the large table.
“Shut up before you start” he had smiled, moving to sit with the pair while the kettle had boiled.
When Bella had reappeared, they had spent the day together, carrying out more repairs to the front door and securing the building as best as they could, before gathering with the group to bury the remains of Robert, Valerie and Jiyaa out the back of the farmhouse, Victor giving a small Christian service for the couple but unsure what to do for the Sikh woman, the group resorting to speaking about their brief memories with her.
The rest of the day had past in a blur of activity, before they had retired to the bedroom again.
“Dog?” he blinked, glancing down as beside him in the bed Bella came slowly awake, stifling a yawn as she looked at him, “What time is it?”
He shrugged, smiling, “I have no idea, you OK?”
“Yeah” she nodded, smirking slightly, “You?”
Victor grinned, the pair rolling to face each other, his right hand rising to brush some hair from her face, “Yeah, for the first time in ages I think I am”
“Oh you think you are?” she sent him a look of mock offence, her head shaking, “How rude”
“I know right” he chuckled then laughed aloud as she pushed him onto his back and rolled astride him, “And what do you think you are doing?”
Her smile was mischievous, “Convincing you”
“I feel sorry for Brandon” the voice of Emily dragged Lauren’s attention away from where she had been leaning against the doorframe, staring off across the moorland before the farmhouse, her eyes resting upon the teenage girl that was sitting several feet away with a book on a chair, the border collie Lexie asleep down near her feet.
“What’s that?” Lauren smiled, following the girl’s gesture as she pointed with a hand, a smile creasing the nurse’s face as she saw Brandon and Eric sitting side by side on a couple of old tyres, the young black man holding his favourite book in his hands while the six year old read it to him.
“Best friends” Lauren smiled, glancing back at Emily, a serious expression creeping into her features as she nodded at the girl, “Thank you”
“What for?” Emily turned her nose up, frowning.
“For helping Brandon the night before last”
The girl pulled a face, acting confused, “Did I?”
For a moment, Lauren held her gaze in silence and then she nodded, “You know you did, more than once…just like you did with Eric”
“Ugh” she rolled her eyes, “I have to protect that little shit, he’s my brother, I don’t have a choice”
Again, Lauren studied the girl intently and then she shook her head, “You don’t have to act tough all the time…its ok to like people”
“Who is acting?” Emily raised an eyebrow and the nurse chuckled, her head shaking at her.
“Hey, I was a girl once, I know how it is…adults don’t know anything and everyone wants to ruin your life right?”
To her surprise Emily closed the book upon her lap and nodded, “You totally get it”
Lauren chuckled, “Of course I get it, I’m still technically a teenager myself”
“Shut up”
“I am” Lauren nodded, grinning, “I’m nineteen”
“Oh” the grunt off surprise from Emily had been genuine, then a smirk appeared on her face as she gave a shrug, “I thought you were way older”
“Thanks a lot” Lauren grinned, head shaking.
“Your welcome” Emily replied, unable to stop the smile she was hiding from showing in her eyes.
Not wanting to ruin the moment, Lauren turned back away and removed her glasses, cleaning them upon her clothes before placing them back on her face and turning to glance back out over the moorland, her brow suddenly furrowing.
They had survived the mass attack by the ghouls.
Somehow, their luck had held out once more, just as it had during their escape from the hospital.
She frowned then, trying to work out how long ago that had been, a grunt of surprise escaping her as she realised that it was now Friday, and that it had all happened since Monday.
Why did it seem so much longer than that?
She winced as she recalled all those that had been lost in such a short amount of time, her head shaking as she pictured their faces, old Mary back at the hospital, Robert and Valerie whose home they had now taken possession off, the arrogant Marcus, the brave and dependable Geri, the unfortunate Jennifer and poor sweet Jiyaa, a cold place opening up inside Lauren as she realised that only she, Brandon and Alice remained of those who had been in their initial group back at the hospital before they had been rescued by Dog and Bella in the ambulance.
A faint smile turned the corner of her mouth up as she pictured Alice, her head shaking as she considered how many times they had saved each other in the past five days, and all the pain and grief they had been through together, sudden realisation striking her in that moment just how important the woman’s friendship was to her.
“Lauren?”
The nurse turned to watch as Emily sat studying her, the young girl’s lips pressed together as if she were reconsidering speaking, “What is it?”
Emily held her gaze in silence for almost a minute, her young features screwing up for a second then she leaned forwards in a secretive manner, “Dog and Bella”
“What about them?” Lauren raised an eyebrow.
The girl groaned, head shaking, and then fixed her with a look of disgust, “Are they doing it?”
Lauren was unable to stop the peal of genuine laughter that coursed through her body as embarrassment flushed through her, her head shaking as tears of amusement came to her eyes, and as the teenage girl began to laugh along with her, the nurse realised that it was the first time she had laughed so honestly for almost a week.
God it felt so good.
“This feels somewhat unfair”
Alice turned from where she had been standing staring down at the grave of Jiyaa, a finger rising to wipe a tear from her eye as she met the gaze of Doctor Green as he walked over towards her, an expression of infinite sadness upon his features.
She stayed silent, watching as he moved to stand before the graves of Robert and Valerie, his head shaking as he turned to mee
t her gaze, a hand gesturing back towards the farmhouse, “This is…was…their home. They opened their door to us all, a group of strangers in need, and they paid the ultimate price. It seems wrong that we stand here and enjoy their home while they lie there”
She winced at his words, realising that he was right, her gaze drifting to the grave of Jiyaa once more before she glanced back to the doctor as he began to speak once more, his voice breaking, “I hid like a coward…whilst they died…I could hear it from inside the cupboard…but I did nothing”
“What could you have done?” Alice asked simply, her head shaking, “Emily told me what happened, she said that Robert charged at the ghouls and got overpowered…no offence but he was a big man…if they managed to overpower him then…”
She let her sentence trail off unfinished and the doctor nodded, one hand rising to remove his glasses while the other rubbed at his tired eyes, his shoulders sagging as he sighed heavily and replaced them, “I understand and appreciate your words my dear…but I feel that I should have done something…it just feels wrong that they and Jiyaa should all be…dead…I am so much older”
Alice stayed silent, unsure what to say in the face of his guilt and self-loathing. She knew without question that he was wrong, just as she knew no matter what she said he would feel no better.
Sighing heavily, his head shaking, Doctor Green turned his eyes skyward for a moment, studying the grey clouds, and then he met her gaze once more, forcing a smile, “I am going to put the kettle on, would you like a cup of coffee?”
She nodded, “Please”
Smiling sadly, he began to turn away only to stop as she placed a hand upon his arm, “You matter”
He nodded, his eyes welling up with tears behind his glasses, and he gently patted her hand upon his arm, “Thank you”
With that he was gone, back towards the house, and releasing a shaky breath, Alice turned away from the grave of Jiyaa and began to make her way around the end of the farmhouse towards the front where the white van blocked the track.
She turned her head as she reached it, studying the figures of Lauren and Emily as they sat near the front door of the farmhouse talking, Eric and Brandon sitting further long, and as the nurse raised a hand at her, Alice felt her cheeks redden.
Waving back, she turned away and moved to stand near the front of the van, staring out across the moorland, the clear weather allowing her a good view of the surrounding land for miles.
For several minutes, she stared intently at every stretch of moorland that she could see, eyes straining for a sign of white bodies moving, tensing herself to give the call that would send everyone charging back inside the farmhouse.
Yet there was no movement upon the moorland save for sheep, and smiling in relief, she turned her face towards the track, her thoughts drifting to Dog and Bella, hoping that they returned from their mission out in the ambulance unharmed.
Frowning, she considered their task, wishing that she had gone with them to scout out the other farms and lone houses upon the moors, searching for food, fuel, weapons and other survivors, the latter now tempered with caution following the ill-fated rescue of both Bethany and Freddy.
She grimaced as anger flared within her for the woman that was nearly two days dead, her head shaking as she pictured the woman’s behaviour, the words of Doctor Green suddenly returned to her. He had said that Robert and Valerie had given their everything to help strangers in their time of need and he had been right. Yet Bethany had gone in the other direction, showing a casual willingness to abandon everyone in pursuit of her own survival, just like the two men; Nick and Pete, had done previously at Thames hospital.
Was that how people would be now?
One or the other, acting either good or bad?
Samaritans and psychos.
She chuckled softly to herself, “That can be the name of my autobiography”
Alice turned at the sound of an engine, her heart in her mouth for a second until she saw the ambulance driving back up the track towards them, the familiar figure of Dog smiling as he raised a hand in greeting while Bella drove.
They were together, and she was happy for them.
A sign of hope in a world which seemed hopeless.
Smiling, she turned to cast a glance back at Lauren as the nurse sat in the autumn sunshine, then began to squeeze past the van as she made her way towards the ambulance and her friends.
Maybe there was hope for all of them after all.
About the Authors
Kelvin V.A Allison
Born in Portsmouth, England in 1973, Kelvin V.A Allison has somehow found his way to the hill strewn paradise that is County Durham, where he lives a life of calm and insanity in equal measure in the village home that he shares with his fiancée, three children and a neurotic dog. An author of 32 novels, including the ten book World of Sorrow series, he is also an avid board gamer, and a lifetime fan of fruit filled sugared pastries. He would prefer it if you didn’t judge him.
Lisa Hutchinson
Much younger than her co-author, Lisa Hutchinson, a born and bred native of the rolling hills and endless countryside of County Durham, enjoys the quiet life in the small village of her birth where she resides along with her son, and has put her past-experience as a carer along with her love for horror movies and her vast knowledge of crime and serial killers, into co-creating this, her second novel.
By Kelvin V.A Allison
PHINEAS LUCK SERIES
Highgate
Desmotarian
THE BLIGHTED
Kraken
Ascentia
WORLD OF SORROW SERIES
Demons
Wonderland
Angelous
Rebirth
Cursed
Hell Diver
The Returned
Downfall
HOPE CHRONICLES
Hope & Glory
False Hope
STAND ALONE NOVELS
Skin Shifters
Thorns
Renascentia
Pariah
The Trouble with Rabbits Fluid
Bad Seed
Shuft
Ubasute
Witch Rock; Ubasute 2
Ghost Line
Pandemonium
Juggernaut
Unfinished Tales
By Kelvin V.A Allison and Lisa Hutchinson
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Ghoul: The Beginning Page 32